Current Affairs Update – 24-25th July, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the Important Current Affairs of 24th and 25th July, 2016. These are important for the upcoming UBI PO PGDBF and RBI Grade B 2016 Exams.

Current Affairs at a Glance – 24-25th July, 2016

The RBI has imposed penalties of Rs 5 crore and Rs 3 crore on PSU
lenders Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank,
respectively and also fined private sector HDFC Bank Rs 2 crore for lapses
in adhering to anti-money laundering guidelines.

Tata AIG General Insurance has launched an integrated travel product, for all Axis Bank
customers through the bank’s one
stop solution called ‘Happy Holidays
Package’.

Union Ministry of Water
Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation on 22 July 2016 constituted a committee to prepare
guidelines for desiltation of river Ganga. Madhav Chitale, an Expert Member
of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) has been appointed as Chairman
of the committee. The tenure of the committee would be for a period of three
months.

Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister
of Kerala, on 23 July 2016 launched Kochi Water Metro project in Kochi, Kerala. It is
the first ever Water Metro project in the country.
German Development Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) is funding 85
million euro for the project. The German bank has inked an agreement with the
Kochi Metro Rail Limited for the project worth 747 crore rupees.

Neeraj Chopra, the javelin
thrower from India, on 23 July 2016 won gold in the IAAF World Under-20
Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. With this, Neeraj, 18, managed to set a new world record
(U-20) of 86.48m.

The Madras Music Academy on 24 July 2016 announced that it has chosen
versatile violinist A. Kanyakumari for its coveted Sangita Kalanidhi
Award for the year 2016. Kanyakumari was unanimously named for the award by
the Executive Committee of the Academy. The violinist is the first woman violinist
to get the award in the history of the Music Academy.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister
for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, on 22 July 2016 launched the
Solar Power Tree in New Delhi. The Solar Power Tree has been
developed by the CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute
(CSIR-CMERI), a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR).

Top-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain on 24 July 2016 defeated Robin Haase of the
Netherlands 6-4, 7-5 to win the 2016
Swiss Open Gstaad.

Nepal’s Prime Minister, Khadga Prasad
Oli, on 24 July 2016 resigned from his office. He resigned ahead of
a no-confidence vote.

Finance/Banking –

RBI fines BoB, PNB, HDFC Bank for regulatory lapses

The RBI has imposed penalties of
Rs 5 crore and Rs 3 crore on PSU lenders Bank of Baroda and Punjab National
Bank, respectively and also fined private sector HDFC Bank Rs 2 crore for
lapses in adhering to anti-money laundering guidelines.

“The RBI has imposed a
penalty of Rs 50 million on Bank of Baroda (BoB)… Pursuant to the internal
audit of the Bank of Baroda, the Reserve Bank of India and investigative
agencies in October 2015 were advised by the Bank of certain irregularities
observed,” BoB said in a BSE filing.

The public sector lender further
said the Reserve Bank carried out the investigation and noted the deficiencies
which were reflective of weaknesses and failures in internal control mechanisms
in respect of certain “anti-money laundering (AML) provisions such as
monitoring of transactions, timely reporting to Financial Intelligence Unit
(FIU) and assigning of Unique Customer Identification Code (UCIC) to
customers”.

BoB said it has implemented a
comprehensive corrective action plan to strengthen internal control and ensure
that such incidents do not recur.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) also
informed the BSE that the RBI has imposed an aggregate penalty of Rs 3 crore on
it.

“Though the amount of
penalty is not material to the size of the Bank, reporting is done in terms of
SEBI (LODR) Regulations 2015,” PNB said.

Tata AIG launches travel insurance for Axis Bank customers

Tata AIG General Insurance has
launched an integrated travel product, for all Axis Bank customers through the
bank’s one stop solution called ‘Happy Holidays Package’.

The package allows Axis Bank
customers, who are travelling abroad to buy Tata AIG travel insurance policy
instantly and in a seamless manner from the bank’s mobile application.

The ‘Happy Holidays Package’
offers multiple travel benefits to globetrotters such as a Multi-Currency Forex
Card, that can be loaded with up to 16 currencies; travel insurance policy,
tailor-made Travel Insurance plans; TripAssist Services – an emergency
assistance service; Free International Calling Cards, and discounts at
restaurants in overseas locations.

India –

India’s first Water Metro launched in Kochi

Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister
of Kerala, on 23 July 2016 launched Kochi Water Metro project in Kochi, Kerala.
It is the first ever Water Metro project in the country.

German Development Bank,
Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) is funding 85 million euro for the
project. The German bank has inked an agreement with the Kochi Metro Rail
Limited for the project worth 747 crore rupees.

The Water Metro will link various
islands to the mainland.

The metro network through inland
waterways will provide last-mile connectivity to islanders and leisure travel
to visitors.

The Water Metro will provide
Kochi with 78 modern boats.

Madhav Chitale committee constituted to prepare Guidelines for
Desiltation of River Ganga

Union Ministry of Water
Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation on 22 July 2016 constituted
a committee to prepare guidelines for desiltation of river Ganga.

Madhav Chitale, an Expert Member
of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) has been appointed as Chairman
of the committee. The tenure of the committee would be for a period of three
months.

It will provide guidelines for
desiltation of river Ganga from Bhimgauda (Uttarakhand) to Farakka (West
Bengal).

It will establish difference
between desilting and sand mining in the river.

CSIR-CMERI develops Solar Power Tree for generation of electricity

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister
for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, on 22 July 2016 launched the
Solar Power Tree in New Delhi.

The Solar Power Tree has been
developed by the CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute
(CSIR-CMERI), a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR).

The product harnesses solar
energy for producing electricity with an innovative vertical arrangement of
solar cells. Therefore, it reduces the requirement of land as compared to
conventional Solar Photovoltaic layout.

As a future prospect, the Solar
Power Tree will be developed in a rotatable module, which will have a motorized
mechanism to align itself with the movement of the Sun during the day.

It takes only 4 square feet of
land for a 5 KW Solar Power tree. On the other hand, a conventional layout
requires 400 square feet of land.

By holding the photovoltaic
panels at a higher height, it gets more sunrays for one hour in a day on an
average. As a result, it is possible to harness 10-15% more power in comparison
to a conventional layout on ground.

Scientists decide to launch field trials of oil-degrading bacteria in
Kochi

The Malabar Botanical Garden and
Institute of Plant Sciences, Kozhikode, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation
Limited (BPCL) in July 2016 joined hands to launch field trials of oil-degrading
bacteria in Kochi.

The scientists will undertake the
trail to establish the oil-degrading properties of three new strains of
bacteria.

The oil-degrading properties of
these bacteria will pave the way for the development of bioremediation agents
to clean up petroleum pollutants from the environment.

Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival 2016 begins in Guwahati

The fourth edition of the
Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival commenced on 22 July 2016 in Guwahati, Assam.

The festival pays homage to the
rich culture of northeast India and is dedicated to the film fraternity of the
region.

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Appointments –

L&T Finance promotes Dinanath Dubhashi as Managing Director

L&T Finance Holdings has
promoted Dinanath Dubhashi as managing director with effect from July 22 while
CMD Y M Deosthalee will continue to serve as its chairman.

The board of directors of the
company at its meeting held on July 22, appointed Dinanath Dubhashi, deputy
managing director as the manging director of the company and said that
Deosthalee, would continue to serve as the chairman of the company, L&T
Finance said in a regulatory filing.

The company has sought
shareholders’ approval for the appointment of Dubhashi as Managing Director and
Amit Chandra as a nominee director of the company, it said.

Sports –

Neeraj Chopra becomes first Indian to win gold in World Athletics
championships

Neeraj Chopra, the javelin
thrower from India, on 23 July 2016 won gold in the IAAF World Under-20
Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. With this, Neeraj, 18, managed to set a new
world record (U-20) of 86.48m.

His 86.48m effort also helped
India in bringing its first world record as well as the country’s first-ever
gold in any World athletics championships.

South African Johan Grobler with
80.59m took the silver and Anderson Peters with 79.65m of Granada the bronze.

Feliciano Lopez wins 2016 Swiss Open Gstaad

Top-seeded Feliciano Lopez of
Spain on 24 July 2016 defeated Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-4, 7-5 to win
the 2016 Swiss Open Gstaad.

It is Lopez’s first title on clay
and his fifth overall.

Wrestler Narsingh Yadav fails Dope Test

Narsingh Yadav, the Indian
wrestler qualifier for Rio Olympics, in July 2016 failed a dope test. He was
tested positive for a banned substance steroid in an out-of-competition test
conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

In the samples collected at the
National camp in Sonepat, he was tested positive for the methandienone — a
banned anabolic steroid.

A former Commonwealth Games
gold-medallist qualified for the Rio Olympics in the 74kg freestyle category
ahead of the two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar.

World –

Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli resigns ahead of a no-confidence vote

Nepal’s Prime Minister, Khadga
Prasad Oli, on 24 July 2016 resigned from his office. He resigned ahead of a
no-confidence vote.

Oli’s resignation, who was
heading Nepal’s eighth government in past 10 years, threw the nation into a
fresh political turmoil.

Oli, 64, who became prime
minister of Nepal in October 2015, has been facing a no-trust motion after the
Maoists withdrew support from the coalition government.

Annual electronic music festival Tomorrowland begins in Belgium

One of the biggest electronic
music festivals Tomorrowland began on 22 July 2016 in Boom, Belgium.

The year 2016 also marks
Tomorrowland 10th edition.

More than 350000 tickets for the
festival were sold out in an hour of their opening in February 2016.

The Madras Music Academy on 24
July 2016 announced that it has chosen versatile violinist A. Kanyakumari for
its coveted Sangita Kalanidhi Award for the year 2016.

Kanyakumari was unanimously named
for the award by the Executive Committee of the Academy.

The violinist is the first woman
violinist to get the award in the history of the Music Academy. She will
preside over the 90th annual conference of the Academy to be held between 15 December
2016 and 1 January 2017.